Chapter 8

A Light

So Bright

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but what you see here. And now for one of the biggest moments of the story. At least in my view anyway. And I seriously can not believe them motha humpers! How they gonna do that on Flash!? Also, why the Hell would you want anything to be retconned? That would be seriously stupid and a complete waste of all the time the creators have put into the show.

April 15th, 2016

In the aftermath of Darhk's mental attack on Oliver, the archer had spent several days in a brooding and depressed state and if it hadn't of been for his friends and his sister, he would have likely done something he would have regretted during that particular moment in time. The second day of his depression had seen him in a one on one fight with Tommy and his best friend was somehow a superior fighter and willing to cause a lot of damage as well. His near loss to his former dead brother didn't really help his state of mind either. Laurel and Thea were't much better either since the man had not been kind in his attacks on them, giving both girls some bruised ribs in the process. His claim of no longer having any desire to be near them anymore as he had new interests thanks to his master quite possibly hurt them worse the his physical attacks on them did. And what was worse, it seemed he had a few masked friends who were of the silent variety who possessed some skill aside from one of them anyways.

If it hadn't of been for Roy, Digg, and Constantine, they would have probably been a lot worse off from that fight. And today on the fifteenth was proving to be a rather troublesome time too thanks to the return of Brie Larvan. Who had gone to take over Palmer Tech after escaping prison in order to steal a device that would help her spinal issues. Her bees were bad enough but the drone warriors were another thing entirely as they were a force to be reckoned with. Even if it was only one they had been dealing with. Curtis' cold certainly wasn't helping matters any either but the genius certainly did his best to help the team out and making Brie consider him to be her second mortal enemy right after Felicity Smoak. Who she had planned on visiting once she got out of the building. Which had been a worry of Oliver's considering how things had gone on between the two girls the first time they crossed paths and said worry fueled his desire to stop her. Even considering permanently paralyzing her if it would help prevent her from being able to control her bee drones.

Though that was something he kept to himself since he wasn't looking to deal with the team's reactions and responses to that idea. Thankfully however his little idea didn't come to pass and she was stopped before she could do any real serious harm to the board members who'd been having a meeting at the time of her attack. The team watched on outside of the building as the police escorted Brie to a police cruiser and the girl was definitely not going quietly either! "NO! I'll get free again! Just you wait damnit! I need that chip!" She let out a scream of rage as she was forced into the backseat of the cruiser and driven off afterwards.

"Well, I guess we can expect a visit from her in the future." Joked Roy as he watched the scene.

Thea gave him a look. "I hope not." Shuddered the girl as even if they were robots, those bees were still freaky!

Roy smirked at her, a smirk that didn't lessen as she glared at him for it. "Oh come on, don't tell me the Princess is scared of some bees? Even robotic ones? Cause you are seriously killing that bad ass warrior princess vibe of yours." His words got him a swat on the shoulder much to his and the others' amusement.

"Don't make me hurt you Arsenal."

"I wouldn't dream of it Princess!" Replied the young man and making the three adults grin at one another over the two's antics.

Constantine hadn't been able to be there for the day's events due to being needed elsewhere after Chas and Zed called him up for a bit of trouble going on in Colorado. "As fun as it is watching the two of you, I think we need to get out of here before we start to get swarmed." Spoke up Laurel and Oliver and Diggle gave a nod to that as who knows what was liable to happen with something like that!

And soon afterwards, the team made their way back to the Bunker and once there told Curtis to get on home so that he could rest up. The man was glad for that as he definitely needed it! Even if he was bound to likely get a confrontation from his husband over his disappearing act! And personally he was starting to wonder if it would be okay to let the man in on what he was doing and had a strong suspicion Oliver would be highly against it for safety reasons. Which he could understand but he hoped he would be able to let his husband in on it sometime in the future, hopefully the near future. As the team showered up, Curtis got a call on his cell that left him quite shocked and frozen in his tracks, which would be the sight the freshly showered Arrow team would return too. "Curtis? What's wrong?" Asked a concerned Laurel as she walked up to him and took the phone from him.

She received no answer from the man and the person on the phone turned out to be Donna herself who kept asking if Curtis was still there. Prompting Laurel to quickly inform the woman that their friend was in a state of shock. The vigilante lawyer would then get her own shock in return thanks to the woman! "Okay… Um, wow! I'll, okay. I'll tell them." Replied the lawyer and then hung up and held the phone limply in her hand.

"Laurel, what is it?" Asked Oliver in concern and worry.

She looked at him with that shocked look of her's, which only made him frown as the concern and worry grew even more. "She… Ollie, Felicity… Felicity's awake!"

Laurel watched as Oliver stumbled back and the others looked at one another in surprise and happiness. "She… She's awake?" Asked Oliver in a tone of disbelief and got a nod from a happily smiling Laurel.

And before she and the others knew it, Oliver was gone as quickly as possible to the hospital with the others not far behind. Riding the elevator proved to be an annoyance as Oliver crossed his arms and rubbed his forefinger and thumb together in an attempt to keep himself from getting too agitated over the agonizing wait to take him to the floor he needed to be on. And once the bell dinged and the doors opened, the archer was out of there quickly and running to the room that contained the woman he loves. Once there, he took in the sight of Felicity and her mother speaking and holding hands while smiling widely at one another and it was the most beautiful thing the man had ever seen. And as if they somehow knew he was there, the two turned to him and their smiles widened even further. "Oliver! Come on in here!" Came Donna's voice and he did so in a slight state of shock with his eyes never leaving Felicity's face.

Donna moved out of the way and watched as her daughter and future son in law hugged after he leaned in to do so. And in the mother's eyes, it was like he never wanted to let go of her and she had the feeling Felicity didn't want to let go of him either. "I'll uhh, I'll give you two some alone time." And with that, she made her way out of the room and closed the door and then leaned against it with her eyes closed and that smile on her lips.

Her attention was quickly captured however when the others showed up. "I'm giving those two a little alone time." She informed the group and getting a few grins for it.

"Yeah, Blondie and Oliver definitely need it after bein' in that coma for so long." Remarked Roy and getting an agreement from Curtis that was interrupted by a sneeze.

As the group chatted happily with Donna over Felicity's being awake, a certain couple was still in their hug until Oliver finally sat down in the chair next to Felicity's bed with one of his hands holding on to one of her's. "You look beautiful." Complimented the archer and earning himself a smile from his Girl Friday.

"I probably look a mess."

"Nah, not at all."

"Compliments won't save you from the fact I know my mom knows about what we do."

Oliver grinned at her. "I for one look forward to whatever it is you plan on doing to me once you're out of here." He watched as she closed her eyes and her smile got wider at the thought of that.

"Mmm… That sounds good."

"How about a trip to Bali to celebrate?"

She looked at him before saying anything. "But what about Darhk? Is he gonna be in Bali too?"

"I hope not, would ruin the point of going for the two of us."

"You might be right about that. But if he's not there… I think we should wait til he's out of the way before having any fun."

Instead of replying, Oliver just leaned in and kissed her, allowing himself to enjoy the feel of her lips for the first time in a good long while. He felt her kiss him back but it didn't last long as she still had little energy. He then raised up a bit and looked her in the eyes. "I love you Felicity."

Her eyes widened in surprise over that as it was usually always her who said those words first, prompting him to say it afterwards. Felicity gave him a soft but pleased smile. "I love you too Oliver."

Things were silent for a bit after that until she cleared her throat and making him wonder what was on her mind. "You… You haven't gone off the rails while I've been in here have you?" He winced as he had been really hoping she wouldn't ask something like that. Especially after that little moment they just had.

But leave it to her to get real serious in quick fashion. "I see." Was all she said after seeing the wince.

"I may have gone a little bit off the rails but beyond that, its not gone further." Sure, that was something of a lie but its not like she had to know how bad things had been while she'd been in a coma.

As there would be plenty of time for her to find out later. Especially like the fact he brought in the Bratva. He watched as she scrutinized him for a few seconds before stopping. "Hmm… We'll talk later mister." Oliver chuckled at her serious tone of voice as it and everything else about her was something he missed a damn great deal.

"That might have to wait as Anatoly may want to hug you first." Joked the man.

Felicity looked at him in surprise over that one. "Why… Why would he be around!?"

"Well he does consider you to be his second favorite American after all and he's been pretty concerned about you since you got shot." Replied the man easily.

"Oh." Was all the hacker could think of to say as really, what else could she say when it came to a man who led a group like the Bratva!?

Oliver couldn't help but grin over the fact she was speechless over Anatoly's concern for her. Which was completely true as the man definitely liked her as her bright nature was a nice thing to witness for the man considering all that he does. "I guess I'll try and make sense of that later." Muttered the woman about a minute later.

She got a squeeze of the hand from her fiance after that. "Now that you're awake, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time for that."

"Yeah, who needs more sleep right?" The two chuckled over that.

After a little more comfortable silence between the two as they stared happily at one another, Oliver was about to ask if she wanted to see the others when the machines began to beep and she started to have trouble breathing. "Ol-Oliver!" Got out the terrified woman as blood started to come out of her eyes, mouth, and nose.

Her body then started to convulse and it quickly had Oliver going outside of the door and yelling for a doctor to get in there before rushing back to her side as Donna and the others looked on in shock and horror at the sight of what was going on with Felicity. A doctor and several nurses then came barging in and the archer had to be forced out of the room so that they could stop whatever was going on. Oliver would pace in the hallway with his hands clasped together behind his head, hoping with all he had that they would be able to stop whatever was going on with Felicity. Laurel and Thea were holding Donna as the woman shed tears after having seen her daughter in such a state like that while Diggle just prayed for the girl he considered a little sister. And after what felt like an eternity for the group, the doctor came out and one look at the woman told them all they needed to know.

"I'm so sorry, but we weren't unable to save her. We aren't even sure what even happened exactly as all her tests were looking good." Informed the doctor to the shell shocked group and Oliver pushed past her and into the room while Diggle fell to his knees as tears started to trail down his face while Donna began to cry harder, her tears being joined by Laurel and Thea's.

Oliver grabbed hold of Felicity's hands as he begged her to wake up with tears in his eyes. Tears that started to fall on to her as well. But when she wouldn't wake up, he could do only one thing at that moment in time. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed out the man in utter anguish over the loss of the woman he loved. The woman who had found a home in his heart just as he had her's.

He would later have to be forced out of the room so that the medical examiners could remove her body and place it in the morgue for the time being to try and determine what happened before she would be ultimately buried. Oliver himself would end up disappearing from the hospital completely and no one would hear from him for three days afterwards, making for quite a few worried individuals in the process. It'd end up being several Bratva members who would finally come across him at a bar deep in the Glades, drunk out of his mind and being rather unruly in his drunken state. "Comrade, your friends have shown deep concern for your well being in this time of loss. Come, let us take you to them." Spoke up one of the Bratva members in his heavy Russian accent.

Oliver looked up at him and sneered. He then made a response in Russian that informed the speaker just what exactly he thought of him and that idea. The man didn't even so much as frown over that as he himself could understand such a painful loss. He then gave a nod to his two allies and they stepped on either side of Oliver and grabbed him by the arms. Only for him to try and shake them off with a yell. "Get offa me! I don't wanna be anywhere but here damnit!" Snarled the drunken archer.

"Apologies Comrade, but this is not allowable."

Oliver showed the man what he thought of that by trying to punch him but missing entirely and falling down hard for it. The lead speaker's fellow Bratva brothers went to help the Captain up but he pushed them away. "You really should let them help you up Oliver." Came an unexpected voice, making the four look up and seeing Thanatos without his mask on and his three friends behind him.

"Just… Just what I need, my dead best friend tryin' to kill me!"

"Think of it this way, I would be re-uniting you with the woman you love."

A shake of the head came from the drunken Queen. "No! She, she wouldn't want that!" Even if the idea did sound really appealing to him.

He could see his Felicity, his parents, Akio, Shado, Taiana, even Maseo, and so many others again if he was killed here and now. His three fellow Bratva brothers pulled their guns at Thanatos and his three friends as the rain started to come down, making the lead speaker think this felt appropriate somehow. "Killing him is not something we can allow. Turn back or we kill you instead."

"Most certainly welcome to try Comrade." Responded Thanatos as he unsheathed his sword while his allies did nothing.

"But Oliver, I think you should take a look at just who my friends are."

Oliver was greatly confused by that and hated it as the alcohol in his system wasn't helping it any. He and the three Bratva members watched as the man gave a nod to his three allies and watched on even more as the three took off their masks. Making Oliver's eyes go wide as he shook his head in denial, hoping greatly that this was just something he was hallucinating thanks to being drunk. "No…. No no no no no! THIS CAN'T BE REAL!" Shouted the man as he stumbled away from the sight in front of him while the three fellow Bratva looked on in confusion but ready to start shooting if need be.

Author's Notes: If you didn't see that coming with Felicity, I don't know what to tell you. And just who are the mystery Ghosts at the end there? An answer that is soon to come! R and R!